This event is a symposium in the classical sense that provides for attendees a taste of Ancient Greece and Rome. The goals of this event are: to maximize exposure of the society to the wider community in Akron, Kent, and neighboring areas; to promote AIA membership; to provide an enjoyable, entertaining, and educational experience to symposiasts. Thus, the event will involve several components of the ancient symposium: a banquet, entertainment, and intellectual stimulation in the form of short lectures from a variety of faculty members from the University of Akron and Kent State University.

Central Arizona: Apples + Archaeology

An innovative and dynamic public outreach program created to reach a diverse K-12 population in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Faculty from several departments at Arizona State University and Paradise Community College as well as a member of the Archaeological Research Institute connect with educators in primary and secondary schools across the Phoenix valley and present lectures on a variety of topics and introduce creative archaeological projects to students, offering a welcome addition and diversity to the mandated state curriculum. Reaching into the wider community to make archaeology more accessible to a greater audience, the society has partnered with the Deer Valley Rock Art Center and Pueblo Grande Museum to bring lecture opportunities and archaeological experiences to different parts of the Valley.

Houston: Educational residency – Texas Archaeology

A week of educational presentations focused on the history of Paleolithic Texas – a first-ever series of educational events on Texas. We are partnering with educators and archaeologists from Shumla, a center that works to connect children with the land and heritage. In particular, these events will be presented at elementary and middle schools in order to expose younger students to archaeology and excite them about the larger world beyond their community. The partnership with Shumla and their staff of professional educators allows AIA-Houston to create educational presentations that respond to standardized curriculum and STAAR objectives – an important factor in creating educational events that will be well-received by educators and school districts.

Milwaukee: 5th Annual Milwaukee Archaeology Fair

This fair will house about two dozen presentations and displays will cover the archaeology and culture of much of the ancient world from local Wisconsin archaeology to world archaeology and related subjects such as ancient writing systems and mythology. Activities will include content from the Aegean, Central Europe, Middle East, East Asia, Latin and North America ranging in date from Bronze Age through medieval and more recent historical times. Visitors, especially children, will learn about flotation techniques used in excavations as they “help sort it out;” they can try their hands at some fun “games ancient people played,” such as Egyptian Senet, Roman 3 Man’s Morris, and Greek knucklebones; they will be challenged to “name that myth” by the UW-Milwaukee Classics Club; they can work their way through mazes and labyrinths as they learn where these enigmatic puzzles originated; and they will learn about Inca mummies, and discover some of the little-seen archaeological collections in the Milwaukee Public Museum, many of them collected over a century ago. On hand in full regalia will be re-enactors representing Roman legionaries, Celtic warriors, Greek hoplites and Renaissance knights. These are only some of the educational and entertaining presentations that will be offered to visitors over the two days of the Fair.

Rochester: Classroom visit with "Alex the Archaeologist"

The most popular school tour offered at the Memorial Art Gallery is "Passport to the Past," which features artworks and artifacts from the ancient world. As a pre-visit supplement to a "Passport" tour, area teachers will be offered the opportunity to invite “Alex the Archaeologist,” aka Alexander Smith, Ph.D. candidate in archaeology at The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology at Brown University, to visit their classroom. The “Alex the Archaeologist” program includes an interactive, illustrated talk on archaeological terms and techniques, a “sample excavation” conducted in a plastic bin, and a hands-on activity for students featuring actual objects. Students have the chance to engage with a professional archaeologist, conduct a detailed artifact examination, and share their findings and hypotheses with their classmates.

Stanford: Archaeology Memory – Heritage Preservation

A public panel (or individual visits) to record the memory of several archaeologists of today. They will be invited to answer the following set of questions: 1) What was your most unforgettable experience as an archaeologist? 2) Whom do you remember best from a past generation of great archaeologists and why? 3) Describe an personal anecdote about this person that is likely not to have written down anywhere 4) Who as an archaeology mentor had the most impact on you, especially encouraging your pursuit of archaeology? 5) Describe your work on your most exciting day in the field (or museum, classroom or lab) and what made it so memorable? 6) What were any important things you did not publish that you would go back and publish if the data was available? 7) If political circumstances have changed, are there contexts that ought to be explored that now languish? 8) What would you tell the next generation about what has changed in the decades of your career as a practicing archaeologist?

Staten Island: Staten Island Archaeology Fair

The Fair, held in conjunction with Wagner College, will again be free and open to the public, and will feature an array of informative, fun, and interactive programming. Stations will be set up with programs and activities presented by archaeologists, historians, museum educators and interpreters, all from organizations in the greater New York City area. Wagner College students will serve as ambassadors and take participants on a book and craft tour of ancient and global cultures, such as Mayan and Egyptian. Through a mock archaeological excavation participants can search for and discover their own ‘artifacts!’ All children who attend the Fair will leave with a goody bag of archaeological treasure!

Toronto: Archaeology Student Publication Workshop

The Archaeology Student Publication Workshop will be welcoming abstracts on all archaeological topics thereby opening the process up to be inclusive. Papers will be grouped, giving the students the opportunity to practice their presentation skills, and to see their work within a professional context, we will use the format of respondents giving valuable critiques of the students’ work within the congenial framework of coffee breaks and lunches to promote dialogue and interaction.

AIA News

The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), Society for American Archaeology (SAA), and the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) released a joint statement in response to news reports of the destruction of a gate of Nineveh and other works of ancient art in the Mosul Museum, Iraq.